The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday that it is closing a probe into allegations of discrimination or civil rights violations by the state of Louisiana after finding no evidence black residents faced high levels of air pollution.
The investigation was initiated in response to complaints from environmental groups, who claimed that black residents in St. John the Baptist Parish were disproportionately exposed to air pollution.
These groups alleged that Denka, a Japanese company that operates at the former DuPont facility in LaPlace, was permitted to release excessive levels of the chemical chloroprene, which the EPA classified as a likely carcinogen in 2010….